Topical Map

What the Topical Map does

The Topical Map is where your research, clustering, and strategy turn into a concrete plan.

It:

Merges your topical research and SERP Clustering results into a single structured view
Builds and maintains the four-level hierarchy (MT, ST2, ST3, ST4) backed by vector analysis
Preserves and manages content planning fields such as title, intent, journey stage, type, snippet, and URL slug
Supports configurable URL prefixes (e.g., /blog/, /resources/) for consistent site structure
Lets you reorganize the hierarchy in Silo and Outline, with structure checks and AI Review suggestions
Prepares the structure required for the Topical Authority Scorecard and Planner

Use this tool when you are ready to finalize the structure you will actually ship content from. For a strategic overview of this workflow, see Topic Authority Planning.

Before you start

For best results, have these ready:

Brand Foundation for the active brand
Audience personas in Audience Insights (optional, but recommended)
Topical Research with a Core Topic and hierarchy you are comfortable with
SERP Clustering completed for the current keyword set

You can still refine topics and keywords later, but the Topical Map assumes your research and clusters are close to final.

Step 1: Generate the topical hierarchy

You arrive from SERP Clustering after Start Your Topical Map and Continue to Topical Map. The Topical Map & Content Plan page opens with the Build Your Topical Map & Content Plan setup panel. Click Hide Setup to collapse it and Show Setup to bring it back.

Set your URL prefix first if your content lives in a subfolder (see Step 3).
Under Step 1, click Generate Hierarchy. It’s marked (Required).

Behind the scenes, Floyi:

Uses your clusters, keywords, and research to assign each keyword to MT, ST2, ST3, and ST4
Builds a consistent hierarchy for every row
Preserves any existing content planning fields where possible

Credits: The step shows its cost, or Free, before you start.

The map saves itself when the task finishes. If a map already exists, Floyi asks Generate the hierarchy again? before it replaces it.

Step 2: Validate and fix the structure

The Must fix section of the suggestions panel checks your structure continuously (see Must fix). For a full report, open the Spreadsheet view and click Validate Structure in its toolbar.

The validation step checks for issues such as:

Mismatched or inconsistent topic names
Orphaned rows or broken hierarchy chains
Problems introduced by imports or earlier edits

You will see a validation report with suggested fixes. You can:

Review the issues in the modal
Click Preselect All Recommended, then Apply Fixes to let Floyi correct them
Re-run validation if needed

Floyi also runs this check when you move on to Topical Authority.

Validation never silently deletes data. It focuses on safe renames and structural corrections so your hierarchy remains usable.

Step 3: Configure URL prefix (optional)

Before generating URL slugs, you can configure a URL prefix that will be automatically prepended to all generated slugs. This is useful if your content lives in a subfolder like /blog/ or /resources/.

Setting a URL Prefix

In the setup panel’s URL Settings card, find Resource URL Prefix.
Choose from preset options or enter a custom prefix:

Preset	Use Case
No Prefix	URLs at site root (e.g., `/topic-name`)
`/blog/`	Blog content structure
`/resources/`	Resource center pages
`/learn/`	Learning/educational content
`/guides/`	Guide-style content
`/articles/`	Article-focused sites
Custom…	Enter your own prefix

Click Save Prefix to store your prefix setting.

Custom Prefix Rules

When entering a custom prefix:

Use letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores, and dots (case is preserved for hreflang codes like zh-TW)
The prefix will be automatically normalized with leading and trailing slashes
Example: entering my-content becomes /my-content/, entering zh-TW/blog becomes /zh-TW/blog/

URL Depth with Prefixes

The prefix affects maximum URL depth to keep URLs SEO-friendly:

With prefix: Maximum 3 levels after the prefix (e.g., /blog/main-topic/subtopic/page)
Without prefix: Maximum 4 levels (e.g., /main-topic/subtopic/sub3/page)

Live Preview

The URL Preview shows how your final URLs will look:

With /blog/ prefix:    /blog/main-topic/subtopic/topic
Without prefix:        /main-topic/subtopic/sub3/topic

Step 4: Generate URL slugs

URL slugs connect your topical map to real or planned pages. They are required for Topical Authority.

Under Step 2, click Generate URL Slugs. It’s marked (Required). If slugs already exist, Floyi asks before it overwrites them.
Floyi generates slugs for every page in the map.
If you configured a URL prefix in Step 3, it will be automatically prepended to all generated slugs.
Review and edit any slugs that need to match an existing site structure.

If some slugs fail or remain empty, click Retry (N) to fill in the missing ones. Moving topics in the editor also clears the slugs Floyi generated for them, and Retry (N) fills those back in.

Credits: The step shows its cost, or Free, before you start. Editing slugs manually is free.

When your URL slug count reaches zero missing, your map is ready to move into Topical Authority.

Step 5: Reorganize the map

You can move, rename, combine and add topics right in the map. Every change waits in an unsaved draft until you click Save Changes, so you can try a new structure and undo it before anything is written.

Choose a view

The map opens in Silo view. Switch between Silo, Outline and Spreadsheet with the tabs above the map. Floyi remembers the view you last used for each brand in this browser.

View	Best for
Silo	Seeing each main topic and everything under it at a glance
Outline	Dragging topics and keywords to a new place, searching, and restoring archived topics
Spreadsheet	Editing content fields such as titles, intent and snippets

Editing works on screens at least 768 pixels wide, and dragging in Outline needs at least 1024 pixels. On smaller screens the map is read-only.

Edits you can make

Open the ⋯ menu on a topic to:

Move to… - pick a new parent, or make it a main topic
Rename - use another of the topic’s keywords as its name
Add Topic Under This… - add a new topic from a keyword you type
Combine With… - merge near-duplicate topics into one. Their keywords and subtopics move into the topic you keep, and links to them point to it after you save
Review This Branch with AI - run AI Review on just this topic and what’s under it
Archive - take the topic out of the map. Restore it later from View > Show Archived in Outline

Open the ⋯ menu on a keyword to Move to… another topic or Make Its Own Topic….

In Outline, you can also drag a topic by its grip onto another topic, or onto Drop here to make it a main topic. You can drag keywords onto a topic the same way. In Spreadsheet, changes to content cells join the same draft. Main Topic, Subtopic 2, Subtopic 3 and Subtopic 4 Page are locked there, so rename or move topics in Outline or Silo instead.

Maps have 4 levels, so Floyi hides places that would go deeper. If an edit can’t be made, it snaps back and the reason shows under the row for a few seconds.

Save, undo or discard

The bar above the map counts your unsaved edits. Click the count to see each one and Revert any of them.

Undo and Redo step through your edits
Save Changes writes them to the map
Discard throws them all away (you’ll be asked to confirm, since this can’t be undone)

Save is blocked while an edit adds a new problem to the map or no longer applies. The bar shows Show Me or Review so you can fix it first.

If a move changes where a topic sits and it has a custom or older URL slug, Save asks what to do: Update Them makes new slugs from each topic’s new place, and Keep Them leaves those slugs as they are. Slugs Floyi generated for moved topics are always cleared, so generate new ones with Retry missing slugs (see Step 4).

While you have unsaved edits, Next and the map steps such as URL slugs wait until you save or discard.

Drafts

If you leave the page with unsaved edits, Floyi asks whether to Save and Leave, Keep as Draft and Leave, Discard and Leave, or Stay. Edits also become a draft after 30 minutes without changes, or when a teammate takes over.

A banner above the map shows your saved draft. Click Review to open it, check the edits you want back, and click Restore. Edits that no longer fit the current map are marked and left unchecked. Drafts are kept for 14 days.

Editing with your team

In a team workspace, one person edits the map at a time. Your first edit takes the lock, and teammates see the map read-only until you save, discard, or keep a draft. Team Owners and Admins can click Take Over Editing, and the previous editor’s edits are kept as a draft for them.

Must fix

Click Suggestions above the map in Silo or Outline view to open the suggestions panel. Its Must fix section lists problems in the map’s structure, such as a topic that has topics under it but isn’t a topic itself, or two topics with the same name. Topical Authority waits until they’re fixed.

Each problem has a fix button, and some offer Fix Parent… with a choice of existing topics or keywords to use. For some kinds of problem, Fix All fixes every one of them in one step. Fixes join your draft like any other edit.

Problems your edits created are listed separately from problems that were already in the map.

AI Review

AI Review suggests where topics fit better: a better parent, near-duplicates to combine, a stronger name, or a keyword that deserves its own page. Nothing changes until you accept a suggestion.

Click AI Review Map to review the whole map, or use the arrow next to it to pick one main topic or subtopic.
Check the confirmation: the number of topics, about how long the review takes, the AI model, and the cost in credits next to Cancel.
Click Run Review. You can keep editing while it runs, and a message appears when it finishes.

If some topics have no stored SERPs, or their SERPs are older than 6 months, you can tick Also fetch fresh SERPs. Floyi gets Google’s top 20 for each of those topics before the review. Without them, the review judges those topics by meaning alone.

While a review runs, the button reads AI Review running…. Click it to open the suggestions panel and follow its progress.

Review the suggestions

Suggestions appear in the AI Review section of the suggestions panel, grouped into tabs: All, then Combine, Move, Rename, Split, Promote and Add. Tabs that don’t fit move under More. Each card explains why. Cards based on SERPs say From SERPs, and Show SERPs shows the SERPs behind the suggestion.

Accept adds the suggestion to your draft. It isn’t saved until you click Save Changes
Dismiss removes it, and the same suggestion won’t come back in later reviews
Show on Map jumps to the topics it touches
Accept all on a single tab adds every suggestion of that kind to your draft

A card marked Moved since the review can’t be accepted, because a topic in it has moved. Run the review again to check it. A suggestion that would add a problem to the map isn’t applied.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`Cmd/Ctrl + Z`	Undo
`Shift + Cmd/Ctrl + Z`	Redo
`Cmd/Ctrl + S`	Save Changes
Arrow keys, `Home`, `End`	Move between rows in Outline
`Enter`	Open the row’s menu in Outline
`F2`	Rename in Outline
`A` / `D` on a focused card	Accept / Dismiss an AI Review card

Credits: Editing and saving are free. AI Review costs credits per topic, based on the AI model you choose, and fetching SERPs costs credits per topic. You see the total before you start. Topics that don’t get reviewed and searches that come back empty are refunded. A new topic you add is free until you save, then its search results and content info use credits, shown when you add it.

Step 6: Use the Spreadsheet view

The Spreadsheet view has its own Views: toggle:

Topical Map - focused on hierarchy, volume and SERP data
Content Plan - focused on content fields (URL slug, content title, search intent, buyer’s journey, content type, snippet)
Both - shows structural and planning fields together

Helpful controls:

The filter icon hides or shows columns
Search the page… finds topics or keywords anywhere in the table
Click a column header to sort

For any keyword or topic that has SERP data, click the information icon in the Spreadsheet view to review the ranking pages for that term.

Step 7: Generate the content snapshot (optional)

Step 3 in the setup panel, Content Snapshot & Intent, fills in content planning fields for every page:

Generate URL slugs first. The step needs a slug for every page.
Click Generate Content Snapshot. If content info already exists, Floyi asks before it overwrites it.
Floyi reads each page’s search results to suggest:
- Content titles
- Search intent
- Buyer’s journey stage
- Recommended content type
- Snippet or meta description

You can use these suggestions as a starting point, then refine them manually. Click Retry (N) to fill in any pages that come back empty.

[!NOTE] A topic you add in the editor has no SERP data yet. Generate Content Snapshot fetches its search results first, then fills in its content info, and Retry (N) does the same for failed topics. Those search results cost credits per topic, and the cost lines under Step 3 include them.

Credits: Generating the content snapshot uses credits per topic, based on the AI model you choose, plus the search results for any topic that has none yet. You see the total in the cost line under Step 3 before you start. Editing the suggested values is free.

Step 8: Export and import

Exporting

In the Spreadsheet view, open the export menu (the download icon in the toolbar):

Export to XLSX creates a spreadsheet with every level, keyword, metric, content field and slug
Export to Google Sheets creates the same data as a Google Sheet
Download MD downloads a Markdown version for quick review and stakeholder comments

Exports are useful for:

Internal reviews with leadership or clients
Offline editing and approvals
Archiving map versions over time

Importing

You can import updated maps from Excel or CSV when you need to:

Download the latest export and share it with stakeholders.
Let them edit topic names, hierarchy, or content fields within the allowed headers.
In the Spreadsheet view’s export menu, choose Upload XLSX/CSV and pick the file.
Run validation again and apply fixes if necessary.

[!WARNING] Uploading replaces your current map. Floyi asks you to confirm with Confirm and Overwrite.

Floyi checks headers and IDs to avoid corrupting your map and will report any problems found during import.

Moving from Topical Map to Topical Authority

When your map is:

Validated, with nothing left under Must fix
Saved, with no unsaved edits
Fully slugged (no missing URL slugs)

you can promote it into Topical Authority:

Click Next: Topical Authority. It sits at the end of the setup panel, or beside Show Setup while the panel is hidden. If it’s disabled, hover it to see what’s left to do. While Floyi checks the map for problems, it shows Checking the map…. If that check fails, click Retry.
In Proceed to Topical Authority?, click Proceed to Topical Authority.

Floyi validates the structure, then opens Topical Authority. Your map’s structure is edited in the Organizer from then on.

This step enables:

The Topical Authority Scorecard for Coverage, Market Authority, and AI Authority
The Topical Authority Planner for publish toggles, internal links, anchor management, and brief generation

From that point, your map becomes the backbone of your ongoing authority, execution, and reporting workflows.

Topical Map notes

Credit usage:
- Content snapshots and AI Review use credits, with costs based on the AI model you choose. Fetching SERPs for AI Review also uses credits. Hierarchy and URL slug generation show their cost, or Free, before you start.
- Sorting, filtering, editing, saving, Must fix, validation, URL prefix configuration, and exports are free.
Best practice:
- Treat the Topical Map as your single source of structural truth.
- Make changes here first, then let Topical Authority and content tools follow that structure.
- Use exports and imports to keep stakeholders aligned without manually retyping data.

The Topical Map is where your research, clustering, and planning converge into a structure your whole team can ship from.